Age of The Nerd
Disney’s timeless masterpiece Bambi has hit its 75th anniversary which means it gets an updated in-home release. This will make it the fourth in-home release of the film within the past twenty years. I don’t really feel the need to get into too many details in regards to the film itself. Bambi is still the same great coming of age story that Walt Disney intended it to be back in 1942. The animation and the story still hold up seventy-five years later. Instead I will focus on the quality of the film as far as audio and visuals go, and I will discuss what this Signature Collection has to offer when it comes to bonus features.
When it comes to the quality of the film on Blu-ray it is by far the clearest that I have ever seen and heard the film. The Blu-ray is 1080 HD full screen 1.33.1 which also means that you will get the black stripes on left and right of the screen. The audio is 7.1 DTS-HDHR and you can definitely tell the difference whether you are listening to the film through your tv speakers or on surround sound. The DVD is 1.33.1 full screen with audio of 5.1 Dolby Digital.
On the front of the protective cardboard sleeve is a sticker that says “Hours of Bonus”. Well there definitely is hours of bonus features but about twenty to thirty minutes of it are newly added bonus features, while the rest are “classic bonus features” which were released on previous in-home releases of the film. Though the newly added bonus features are rather short, they are really good. My favorite of the added features is Walt Disney’s recordings. They put together old interviews of Walt Disney in which he talks about turning Bambi into an animated film as well as home videos of his and blended them together with some scenes from the film. The home videos are clips that resemble clips from the film and it works really well.
As for the new deleted scenes, there are two and are both introduced by Floyd Norman who was the first African-American animator to work for Disney and still does work for them but in more of a mentor role. These deleted scenes are in storyboard style with voiceovers.
With the classic bonus features it works out for those who have never purchased Bambi on DVD prior to this release. All of these features are basically new since you have never seen them before. If you owned Bambi before with these same features, then you may be a little upset that these classic bonus features make up the majority of bonus features. With that being said, they are all really neat features to watch and you learn so much about the process of turning this story into an animated masterpiece.
Aside from the bonus features you also get a few more things with purchasing the Blu-ray combo pack. You get the DVD and for the first time ever, you will be able to own a digital copy of the film. The combo pack also comes with a collectible 5 x 7 Tyrus Wong lithograph. It is even better about receiving the lithograph is that it comes inside of Blu-ray case. There’s no need to mail anything to receive it.
If you are a person that collects Disney films, then theres a pretty good chance that you already own Bambi. But this Signature Collection has just enough to make you want to purchase it again if you have the extra money to spare.
Bambi Signature Collection Blu-ray Combo Pack 8 out of 10.
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